Mel's Old Fashioned Pips & Courts and Homemade Baked Goods

Cactus Dahlia

cardlady22 said:
Thanks for the goodies, Mel! I've brought milk, OJ and apple cider. Who's up to bring the hot drinks?

Yummy pastries! I'll bring the tea, coffee and hot chocolate. :party:

Mel, I'm really enjoying your 'book'. I had time yesterday to start going through it all seriously. Quite a shift in my mindset seeing the suits with the different elements, i.e.

cups as air, not water.
coins as water, not earth.
batons as earth, not fire
swords as fire, not air

I need to think about this more.
 

SolSionnach

Cactus Dahlia said:
Yummy pastries! I'll bring the tea, coffee and hot chocolate. :)

Mel, I'm really enjoying your 'book'. I had time yesterday to start going through it all seriously. Quite a shift in my mindset seeing the suits with the different elements, i.e. cups as air, not water.
I really enjoy that way of seeing the elements, too. Deniers as water... imagine that!

You'd really need to go through the threads in this forum, and read the rest of Mel's meanderings.
Some here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=101507
and then I think you can go here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=101981 for more...
Then there's this: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=95259&highlight=Tirage+en+Croix
and here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=69304&page=1&pp=10&highlight=Tirage+en+Croix (around page 12-13 or so, I think)

There's a lot to digest there!
 

Cactus Dahlia

sravana said:
I really enjoy that way of seeing the elements, too. Deniers as water... imagine that!

You'd really need to go through the threads in this forum, and read the rest of Mel's meanderings.
Some here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=101507
and then I think you can go here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=101981 for more...
Then there's this: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=95259&highlight=Tirage+en+Croix
and here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=69304&page=1&pp=10&highlight=Tirage+en+Croix (around page 12-13 or so, I think)

There's a lot to digest there!

Thanks, I will follow these threads at the next opportunity. :) I'm heading off shortly to a Mother's Day lunch.
 

Melanchollic

Cactus Dahlia said:
Mel, I'm really enjoying your 'book'. I had time yesterday to start going through it all seriously. Quite a shift in my mindset seeing the suits with the different elements, i.e.


Book? LOL!

I apologize for the rather random nature of this thread. It was originally spun off of one of the 'number' threads, and was created to illustrate how useful meanings can be deduced from the rather dry philosophical bits drawn from classical thought, and a few people expressed interest in seeing how I juggled it all together. So, there is a conspicuous lack of the "whys". But they're all posted somewhere out there in the 'sea' of blueberry jam that is the Aeclectic continuum.

I'm rather surprised at how many 'hits' this thread is getting. I thought it was just going to be Sravana, Bernice and I, sitting around stuffing our faces and slurping coffee. ;)
 

flying black kat

I am so glad that you are back. Yes, this thread reminds me of a book. I am grateful for the information. I watch and read this thread while drinking coffee, stuffing my face, and gainning all the weight I lost.

No regrets. If your hungry, I can make some brownies with icing.

Be at Peace.

Kathy

PS If you decide to get your book printed I will not have a problem ordering at least 2.
 

Melanchollic

Court Theory


The triangle by ten points be made,
Pythagoras did sing.
In four lines the points are drawn,
Page, Knight, Queen and King.

The Solar King highe atop,
Bestows consolidation.
The Lunar Queen his light reflects,
Drawing out his adoration.

The Airy Knight doth mediate,
Whilst mounting his crusade.
The Earthy Page to errands keep,
Thus the Court's foundation laid.




The four suits of the Tarot each contain fourteen cards. The fourteen cards are divided into two types; ten pips, and four courts. The easiest way to induce meaning onto this structure, is simply to use the structure itself. A set of 10, and a set of 4, related yet different.

From the Pythagorean perspective the 4 court cards could actually be the 10 pips, on a higher level. The courts can literally function as the 'personification' of the energies of the pips. The courts, being 'nobility' can be seen as a distillation of the purest and most noble aspects of the web of energies that play in the nexus of the pip landscape. Simply put, the courts are the pips at their best.

1+2+3+4 = 10

The Tetractys is the philosophical arrangement of 1 - 10 in Pythagorean number mysticism. They believed that all knowledge was contained within this 4 = 10 arrangement. Empedocles called the tetractys, "The fount which holds the roots of ever flowing nature". Iamblichus wrote, "Everything in the universe turns out to be completed in the natural progression of 1 to 4, in general and in particular, as does everything numerical - in short, everything whatever its nature."

The numbers are configured in a triangle which has four planes (levels). For convenience let's call these planes A, B, C and D.


In the figure, the numbers ascend the tetractys. This is what we see with the 'ascending' suits - Swords and Batons. (By 'ascending' and 'descending' I'm referring to how the cards were ranked in value in early versions of the game of Tarot.)


......10..............D
.....8...9............C
...5...6...7..........B
1...2...3...4........A




or, alternatively, the numbers may descend, as is the case with the 'descending' suits - Cups and Coins.


.......1..............D
.....2...3............C
...4...5...6.........B
7...8...9..10......A




Plane A represents the mundane, the physical, the nature of the Tetrad (4), completion, consolidation, stability, and the element of Earth. This plane is represented by the Valet.

Plane B represents the psychic, the planetary, time, change, process, the nature of the Triad (3), and the element of Air. This plane is represented by the Knights.

Plane C represents the ethereal, the spiritual, the nature of the Dyad (2), duality, separation, and the element of Water. This plane is represented by the Queens.

Plane D represents the Unis Mundi (One World), the Anima Mundi (World Soul), the nature of the Monad (1), unity, impulse, and the element of Fire. This plane is represented by the Kings.

In the case of the descending suits, Batons and Swords, the relationship is thus:


......10..............King
.....8...9............Queen
...5...6...7..........Knight
1...2...3...4........Valet




sword-tetrasm.jpg
baton-tetrasm.jpg







In the case of the descending suits, Cups and Coins:


.......1..............King
.....2...3............Queen
...4...5...6.........Knight
7...8...9..10......Valet




cup-tetrasm.jpg
coin-tetrasm.jpg





:D But wait, there's more for our premium subscribers...


Within these arrangements on each of the planes there will be one card that shares the exact same temperament as the court card for that plane. This card, above the others on any given plane, is a direct manifestation of the court card which rules over it.


Swords/Batons -

......10..............King
.....8...9............Queen
...5...6...7..........Knight
1...2...3...4........Valet




Cups/Coins -

.......1..............King
.....2...3............Queen
...4...5...6.........Knight
7...8...9..10......Valet



So, with a little background philosophy in our pockets, let's have a few more pastries, then look at the individual court cards.
 

SolSionnach

Melanchollic said:
I'm rather surprised at how many 'hits' this thread is getting. I thought it was just going to be Sravana, Bernice and I, sitting around stuffing our faces and slurping coffee. ;)
Well, there's that, too.

:::Looks around for Frelkins:::
Melanchollic said:
:D But wait, there's more for our premium subscribers...
:) :p :)

I guess that would be us, eh?

Can't wait for your court card dissertation. This is gonna be fun!
 

Bernice

Oh! The pastries were LOVELY - thank you. :)

And now the Courts (YAY!).
Lot of brain-work going on here... we must keep feeding Mel, so here's some Apple Strudel....

Yes, I wondered about Frelkins as well, and Hooked. What happened to Hooked?

I'm setting all this out in a Word doc. Mel. Threads get lost in the mists of time, can't have that happening to this system.....

Bee :)
 

Melanchollic

Valet of Swords

VALET OF SWORDS

Nickname - "The Idealist"
Element - Earth/Fire
Temper - Melancholic Choleric
Power - Dry
Timing - Long
Movement - Rigid
Direction - Southwest
In the cycle of a year - August/September
In the cycle of a day - Afternoon
In the cycle of a life - Age 21~28
Sex - Male
Cards - 4 Swords, 10 Swords, 7 Batons, 1 Batons, King of Batons



The Dry Power of Fire/Earth is long of duration and rigid. This makes our Valet dedicated, loyal, serious, and self-sacrificing. He rules the 4th (bottom) plane on the Sword Tetractys, and the 4 of Swords - The Enduring Struggle is his manifestation in the pips. The Valet of Swords is indeed the key to how we must go about enduring the Enduring Struggle. He is Sparta. He is Samurai. He does what a man's gotta do, and stoically accepts the hardships. He lives for integrity and principle. The battlefields of history are littered with his bones but he feels his life has more purpose, honor, and satisfaction than all others. He lives for duty, and through him all great cultures have been forged, and the greatest of human achievements have been made thanks to his sacrifices and the protection it provides. Like the base of the tetractys which he symbolizes, he is the foundation on which civilizations have been built.
 

Bernice

Mel:....He is Sparta. He is Samurai. He does what a man's gotta do, and stoically accepts the hardships. He lives for integrity and principle. The battlefields of history are littered with his bones but he feels his life has more purpose, honor, and satisfaction than all others. He lives for duty, and through him all great cultures have been forged, and the greatest of human achievements have been made thanks to his sacrifices and the protection it provides.

Sharpe! The series with Sean Bean ....and he's a chivalrous gentleman with the ladies....

Bee :)